Owl Prowl

My stress levels are through the roof right now: it's exam week and the ungraded papers are piling up, the book deadline is squatting over me, and study abroad work is exploding. I came home on Friday feeling cranky, signed onto Facebook, and noticed a post from Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum announcing this event: an Owl Prowl. I'm not sure why it seemed like the perfect antidote for stress, but it did, so I registered. I should say that I am absolutely crazy about this cemetery (and about birds of prey, for that matter). It is just magnificent. It was established in 1845, and it is the second largest cemetery in the US. The cemetery owns 733 acres of land, but only 400 of them are currently developed--and the place is spectacular. I guess for people who think cemeteries are depressing, that sounds strange. I grew up visiting cemeteries on Sunday drives--not necessarily to commemorate the family's dead, but more to look at the flowers and trees, to hear about Erie or family history, to practice my teenaged driving, etc. I love cemeteries. I do. And Spring Grove is the best I've seen. There are so many varieties of trees and shrubs--including 20 something state champion trees and a couple of national champions. Here's a link to the history of the arboretum and a few photos I took last night. This place is worth a visit, Ohioans! http://www.springgrove.org/sg/arboretum/history.shtm












Last night, the Owl Prowlers--at least a hundred of us--met at the cemetery's 19th century Norman Chapel. A local rescue group called Raptor, Inc. brought three owls and a peregrine falcon to show us--all of them had been injured (broken wings) and rescued by the organization.


Here are the raptors I met last night. First, the Peregrine Falcon:



This is a Great Horned Owl:



This next one was a real screecher--it's a Barn Owl.





Finally, here is the Barred Owl.


It was fully dark out by the time Raptor, Inc. had finished introducing us to the owls. Some people took off, but others of us took off for a remote part of the cemetery to see if we could hear any owls in the wild. My little group was led by a naturalist who did the owl calls himself--fabulous. He apologized four time for not brushing his teeth, so I stayed downwind of him ("it dries my mouth out when I brush my teeth, and I need a little saliva to make the owl calls." TMI!). The other group got a naturalist wannabe who called the owls by playing a recording. I'd like to tell you that we heard owls, but we didn't. We did see a great night sky, and our naturalist pointed out planets and constellations, and told us more about owls. It was a nice night for a new thing.

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